Compensation paid to Dehiwala bomb blast victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 29 May 2008, 05:18 GMT]Rehabilitation and Disaster Relief Minister, Rizad Badudeen, awarded compensations to the victims in the Monday train bomb blast in Dehiwala at Kalubovila hospital Wednesday. The families of the nine killed and the 74 injured were paid compensation, sources in Colombo said.

An initial payment of 50,000 rupees for the families of persons killed and 10,000 rupees for the injured was made to the victims.

A maximum of 100,000 rupees will be given to the families of the victims killed, by the ministry of Rehabilitation and Disaster Relief.

The maximum amount of compensation payable to the injured is 50,000. The exact amount will be decided according to the medical reports of the injuries.

Meanwhile, an amount of 10,000 rupees is paid for the funeral expenses to families of persons killed.

Nine civilian commuters were killed and more than 70 wounded in a bomb blast around 4:45 p.m, Monday at Dehiwela railway station in Colombo inside a packed compartment of a train bound from Maradana to Panandura.